here's my diet/activity for the day. how does it rate?

for breakfast I had a meal replacement shake and a glass of water.
then I did an intense susan powder aerobic exercise video for 1/2 an hour
snack of teaspoon of peanut butter on rye cracker, a handfull of almond and a tablespoon of cottage cheese (1%)
the I had a light bike ride for 1/2 an hour and had a small bowl of pineapple for snack.
glass of water too.
in an hour I'll have more of that meal replacement fiber shake.
snack a pear and some carrots

for dinner tonight Im going to have salad (with ranch dressing) low fat mozzerella cheese and a small portion of spagetti with eggplant&zucchini mushroom & garlic chicken wiener & tomato sauce.

then maybe some snack before bed, like 1/2 an english muffin with peanut butter, or a 100% fruit ice popscicle.

how does this diet rate? any suggestions on substitutions or changes?

Looks good and well-balanced. Lots of fruits, veggies, and lean protein. Sounds pretty yummy too. I will have to check out your link for the meal replacement shake.

I'm not convinced by meal replacement shakes but whatever works for you. The rest of your diet looks pretty good, well balanced and lots of fruit and vegies.

Good workâ€"especially with the high frequency of small meals throughout the day. It's good to get protein in the am, after workout, and as part of your last meal of the day. And try to eat a source of protein with every meal because it will make you feel full faster. Also, try to have most of your carbs earlier in the day and then taper them off so that you are eating more protein than carbs by dinnertime (aka: I'd eat that English muffin as a mid-morning snack instead of post-dinner treat).

Good choice in cheeses too. I love cheese but some are so bad for you! But mozzerella, as well as feta and parmesan, go great in salads and are considered "healthier" cheeses. Lastly, you may already be eating it, but get all-natural peanut butter. JIF and Skippy and all those brands we grew up with are pretty darn bad for you! The consistency's a little thinner but I personally think it tastes better anyway.

Keep up the great work!

Mmm, maybe you should count calories. Almonds etc are very good for you, but can be extremely high in calories. (And it is easy to get carried away with those!)

I also find skipping refined carbs altogether, and pretty much relying on veggies for carb intake (butternut, sweet potatoes being the absolute maximum in carb allowance) make a very big difference!

Another thing - we are supposed to start burining fat after about 40 min, so if you do exercise for 30 min your heartrate is up and you burn calories, but not necessarily losing fat. It doesn't really matter if you are on low-cal diet, however if you are planning to lower body fat percentage (and boost metabolism!) low-intensity for an hour may be better.

My 2c worth!

Good luck with dieting ;)

Another addition!

Eating lots of sauces make me bloat - I don't know about you though. If I have salty sausages/ salty salad dressing/ pasta sauce etc I feel it, see it the next day on my tummy. It is not a crisis, but I feel better without that bloat.

Again, good luck

almonds and any nuts, except peanuts which are a bean not a nut,
may be high in calories but they contain essential fatty acids which the body can not make itself, and they are necessary for the absorption of nutrients, this to goes for omega 3 (fish oil) and olive oil. all of these things assist in preventing heaps of lifestyle diseases. its very true we have to balance how much we have because they are still a fat, but the body deals with this kind of fat much better than saturated fat, which is the kind of fat the body tends to store. the reason i know all of this stuff is because i am a naturopath, and there is massive misconception about the consumption of fats and the biggest thing is every one is different, what works for one of us does not work for someone else. but one of the most common things i find people worry about is the intake of fat through nuts and avocados. i figure i would rather someone have a small amount of that than blow out on saturated fat. anyway, just thought i would share, i am sure other people have different opinions and that is what this is all about isnt it sharing different knowledge so we all learn something
have a great day
iindigo

I agree its good to eat small meals regularls but there are some vital flaws to your plan.

The macronutrient breakdown is probably 10/60/30 for protein/carb/fat. You should be aiming for about 40/20/20 ideally to lose fat. This means a hell of a lot more lean meats, less fruit, and good quality healthy fats.

Nick

um, iindingo witch: I said pretty much exactly what you said - Almonds etc are very good for you, but can be extremely high in calories. That's also what you said: i figure i would rather someone have a small amount of that than blow out on saturated fat.

;)

The meal replacement shakes you suggest look good, but they don't appear to be available outside of Canada! Oh well.

My problem is finding small meals/snacks that I can easily carry and non-messily eat at my desk, since I'm in the office all the time. Almonds work very well for that; cheeses not always so.

I know you did hannah, i was agreeing with you, and extending your argument, didnt mean to tread on your toes
bb
iindigo

Kimberley S. - Here's some of the office snacks I use: raw carrots (or other veggies), fresh fruit, dried fruit, 8-oz servings of soy or cow milk, non-fat yogurt. These are all very portable and not too messy.

i think it's good to have small amounts often, but not that small.
you only have a limited variety of nutrients.
and i might be a binge exerciser, but i'd say either do longer exercises, or another 1/2 hour somewhere.
also, if you eat before bed, you take more fat out of that food, so i recomend not eating for a few hours atleast for retiring for the evening.